A moving and hilarious memoir of life on three Scottish lighthouses - and a beautiful tribute to a long-lost vocation that will always capture the imagination.
In 1973, Peter Hill was a 19-year-old hippy art student when he was interviewed for the job of Relief Lighthouse Keeper by The Commissioners of the Northern Lights in Edinburgh. For the next 12 months he would work on 3 legendary lighthouses off the coast of Scotland.
From these rocky outcrops and uninhabited islands Peter Hill came of age listening to the tales of older keepers, all of whom had lived fascinating lives around the world. They took turns at keeping watch throughout the night in the light chambers, and by day - when not laying lobster creels and attending to their idiosyncratic hobbies - they kept in touch with the outside world through television.
This was the year that Vietnam burned, the Watergate hearings were beamed in live by satellite from Washington, and strains of Jimi Hendrix lifted the roof. The contrast with the age-old world of the lighthouse keepers could not be more marked - Peter Hill has captured the magic of both worlds and granted us the privilege of learning fascinating details about the history and legend of this now defunct but perennially romantic and poetic vocation.
Laugh out loud funny, poetic, poignant and endlessly fascinating, 'Stargazing' is a wise and wistful tribute to a time and a way of life that no longer exists - but one that will always capture the imagination and stir the soul.
